


Last Born

by canadino



Category: Free!
Genre: M/M, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-27
Updated: 2018-09-27
Packaged: 2019-07-18 04:03:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16110410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/canadino/pseuds/canadino
Summary: The youngest is usually spoiled rotten.





	Last Born

His mother called him her sweet baby boy. His father called him spoiled rotten, especially by his mother. Natsuya said he was easily influenced, not surprising since his big wide eyes always followed the flashiest or the fastest moving thing in the room when he was a baby. His friends might call him protective; his exes might call him clingy and high maintenance. Ikuya didn’t care either way - what others thought about him was something he had no control over nor did he have much interest in changing most people’s opinions of him. Though, when he did lay in bed at night deep in thought, perhaps he did have a bit of an abandonment complex. If it was late enough, it turned into a persecution complex, but he didn’t usually stay up long enough to really turn around the least flattering aspects of himself. It was a fundamental human fear, he rationalized. Everyone on earth was afraid to die alone. Anyway, he was also the youngest child in the family, so it was natural that he was a little bit more finicky than his brother. 

He didn’t keep in touch with his underclassmen in high school, so it baffled him a little that Makoto and Haru - reticent, detached Haru - continued to meet up with their Iwatobi underclassmen after they graduated and began university in Tokyo. It baffled him more than they also invited him and Asahi along, as if they had all swam together at the same time. Frankly, he did not care too much for chirpy little Nagisa, who clung onto Makoto like a life vest whenever he drank too much, nor for Rei, who was always squirming and clearing his throat whenever he talked to Asahi. 

“See, what you’ve got to do to reel in the honeys,” Asahi was saying, clapping Rei on the shoulder over and over as if he was knocking some sense into the boy, “is just be charming. Girls love fresh blood in uni; some of it is just natural charisma, but…we can work on the rest.”

“Well,” Rei sputtered, rubbing his shoulder. “I don’t…I hardly think…then, do you have a girlfriend, Asahi-san? I mean, you seem to have…er…natural charisma or something like that.”

Asahi puffed his chest out. He really thrived around people who unknowingly flattered others; Ikuya bit his tongue to keep from saying something mean and stole his last fried prawn. Asahi didn’t seem to notice, too preoccupied to keep shining in Rei’s eyes. “Heh. A man’s got to keep some air of mystery to himself, eh?” 

When they left the restaurant, bidding Nagisa and Rei farewell at their bus stop, Asahi grabbed his hand and lifted it up above their heads in typical showboat style. “Don’t wait up for me, guys! I’m gonna walk Ikuya back to his house! He’s definitely way too drunk to go by himself!”

“Fine,” Haru said. 

“We don’t really live in the same direction anyway,” Makoto said. 

One block later, Ikuya’s hand finally gripped back in his. Asahi grinned into the night air. “You aren’t fooling anyone,” Ikuya grumbled, speaking more into his right shoulder than at Asahi. “I bet Makoto already knows; he’s observant.”

“Makoto only is hyper vigilant about Haru.” He was swinging their hands lightly. “What if Haru knew? Remember how you really used to idolize him? I didn’t really think too much about it at the time but you were always following him around and copying him and stuff. I thought you were so uncool back then. I mean, Haru’s alright, but if there’s anyone you should be copying, it’s me, because I’m pretty great if you didn’t notice–”

“Shut up. So what if I looked up to Haru when I was younger? Better to be inspired by him than fall into a swimming funk because of him.” Ikuya winced as Asahi tightened his grip in retaliation for his cheek. “Anyway, not that you care about people sucking up to you. I’m surprised you didn’t make Ryugazaki your disciple by the way you were really trying to preach to him. How shameless can you get?”

He expected Asahi to puff up again and launch into a long retort about how upperclassmen naturally should set a good example for their underclassmen, but Asahi was strangely quiet. “Oh wow,” Asahi said, finally. “You really are looking up to me, huh? You got jealous over something like that?”

Ikuya scoffed, but Asahi did not let go when he tried to pull his hand away. “I just think it’s stupid to get all big-headed when someone pays you a compliment like that, that’s all.” He pulled his hand again, but Asahi was holding it so tight, the gesture only served to pull Asahi up against his side. 

“Come on,” Asahi said, his voice hot against the side of Ikuya’s cheek. “You know I’ve only got eyes for you.” When Ikuya didn’t relent, he nudged his chin into the boy’s shoulder. “I’m a youngest kid too, remember? I know what it’s like to want something for your very own.”

Ikuya squirmed at the closeness; he supposed this was what Rei felt, with his upperclassman being a hands-on kind of guy. “Do you want to stay over?” he blurted, deflecting quickly to turn the focus away from being caught. Asahi, for all the times he was infuriatingly chatty, only grinned and pressed a kiss to his jaw.

**Author's Note:**

> For the record, I'm not a huge fan of Ikuya's personality but who else is going to pair the babies of their families together? Someone's got to do it.


End file.
